Effective editing hacks I share with all my writers.

1️⃣ Read for intent, not words. Before fixing sentences, ask:

What is this scene/paragraph trying to do?

What should the reader feel or know by the end?

Example:

She was sad and confused after the argument. Ask: What does sadness make her do?

Edit for action, not description.

2️⃣ Highlight what actually changes. In every scene, something must shift...emotion, information, decision. If nothing changes, no amount of polishing will fix it.

3️⃣ Cut explanations. Keep evidence. If you have explained an emotion, look for a way to show it instead.

Before:

He felt betrayed and angry.

After:

He deleted the message without replying and blocked the number.

4️⃣ Edit in layers. Don’t fix everything at once.

First round: structure and intent

Second round: clarity and flow

Third round: language and polish

Trying to do all three together is exhausting and ineffective.

5️⃣ Read it like a stranger. Put the draft away for a few days.

Then read it, asking only one question: Would this make sense to someone who doesn’t know what I meant? If not, there you go, that’s your edit.

6️⃣ If you’re rewriting the same paragraph repeatedly, stop. That’s a sign the problem isn’t the sentence. It’s the idea behind it. Fix the thinking. The writing will follow.

7️⃣ Create space between writing and editing. Never edit immediately after you have written. What you have just written will always look better than it is, because it’s still echoing in your head. Give it a day, even a few hours. Fresh eyes don’t fall in love so easily.

8️⃣ Read your work aloud. This one is non-negotiable. If a sentence makes you run out of breath, it’s too long. If you stumble while reading, the reader will too. Reading aloud exposes: clunky phrasing, jargon pretending to be intelligence, and sentences that look OK but sound terrible. If it’s hard to say, it’s hard to read.

 9️⃣Edit on a different screen. Don’t edit where you wrote. Read your work on your phone or tablet, or better still, print it. The problems will jump out.

You will instantly see: where paragraphs are bloated, where pacing drags, where nothing is pulling the reader forward. This shift forces you to think like a reader, not a writer.

Great writers aren’t perfect drafters. They are patient, obsessive editors.